Theater Review: RBTL's "Wicked"

"Wicked"

Through April 21

Presented by the Rochester Broadway Theatre League

Auditorium Theatre, 885 E. Main St.

Tickets start at $37.50 | 800-745-3000, rbtl.org

Since opening on Broadway in 2003, "Wicked" has had smashing
success, breaking box-office records and becoming one of the most beloved modern
musicals. It has a large, devoted fanbase and
inspires the sort of passion in people so that they are eager to see it time
and time again.

That at least partially explains why the show is back in
Rochester for the third time in the past six years, still playing to a packed --
and very enthusiastic -- house, as evidenced by Thursday night's performance at
the Auditorium Theatre. One of the longest-running shows currently on Broadway,
"Wicked" is often mentioned in the same breath as "Phantom of the Opera" and
"Les Miserables," though what that means depends
entirely on your personal feelings about those shows. The timing of the show's
return to Rochester also happens to capitalize on the revived interest in the
magical land of Oz, thanks to the current success of "Oz The Great and Powerful"
at the cinematic box office.

If you're bothering to read this review, it's likely you're
already aware of the musical's basic plot. The story is loosely based off of
Gregory Maguire's novel, which cleverly invented a complex backstory for the "Wizard
of Oz"'s Wicked Witch of the West, here known as Elphaba. The novel was born out of a desire to humanize one
of the most famous villains of all time, though the story seen in the musical
adaptation is significantly simplified and often altered outright in order to
keep things light and ensure a happy ending for all of its major characters.
The main focus here is on the friendship between Elphaba
and Glinda that begins after they're assigned to be
roommates at Shiz University. The two women are total
opposites. Elphaba is fiercely intelligent but
misunderstood and feared due to her green skin, while Glinda
is a bubbly social climber, drawn to wealth and popularity.

The musical follows the ups and downs of their relationship
over the course of several years, showing how they were each formed by their
experiences into the women we recognize from the most famous Oz story, "The Wizard
of Oz." There's a lot of plot crammed into the show, which makes it feel
condensed and extremely rushed; that's odd considering that so much of it was
invented just for the stage. The problem is particularly obvious at the end of
the first act, when Elphaba goes from honored guest
of the Wizard to undesirable No. 1 awfully quickly.

Any production of "Wicked" is only as
good as its Elphaba and Glinda.
The two leads in this touring company (Jennifer DiNoia
and Hayley Podschun, respectively) are phenomenal. DiNoia has a powerhouse voice, and Podschun
nails the infectiously bubbly energy that the role of Glinda
requires.

The downside of playing these parts, however, is that the two
actors who originated them on Broadway -- IdinaMenzel and Kristin Chenoweth -- were so good in their roles that
everyone cast since is tasked with the duty of simply duplicating their
performances. As a result, no actress is ever given the chance to make the part
her own. So as good as DiNoia
and Podschun are, I found myself constantly thinking,
"Wow, they sound just like Kristin /Idina." It left
me curious about what the parts could have been if the actors had been allowed
to put their own stamps on them. But that will never happen with audiences
expecting to get precisely what they hear every time they listen to the
soundtrack.

The show looks fantastic. The sets,
the costumes, the lighting and effects all add up to an impressive theatrical
experience. But too often, it feels like spectacle for the sake of spectacle.
Even the choreography has the feeling of dutifully rolling out the occasional
dance number because this is a musical, and that's what's expected. But the
empty glitz is best exemplified by the iron dragon that resides the top of the
stage. Despite its light-up eyes, flapping wings, and smoke
pouring from its nostrils, it serves no purpose in the show whatsoever.

Stephen Schwartz's score boasts a few legitimately great
songs, but far too many that come across as generic and instantly forgettable.
There's a reason that most everyone is familiar with "Popular" and "Defying
Gravity," whether they've seen the show or not. The only other song that stuck
with me at all was "The Wizard and I." Still, I wasn't humming a single one as
I left the theater.

Like the novel it is sourced from, the musical version of "Wicked"
raises some thoughtful questions about the nature of evil, and whether people
are born bad. But the musical constantly casts them
aside in favor of more bright lights and shiny objects. Given some thought,
it's a little unseemly that a show that is critical of those who are so wrapped
up in appearances that they're unable to look beyond the surface of things is
itself so consumed with the desire to be beautiful and popular.